Kukla's Korner Hockey

Rogers has a big hockey job ahead of it, led by Messrs. Pelley, Scott Moore and Gord Cutler, but these are people who have taken on big jobs like this before and succeeded. They have vast experience in hockey and broadcasting all sports. Plans have been announced for a monster studio down in the CBC building on Front St., and decisions are being made with personnel that will be announced in the very near future.

Don Cherry and Ron Maclean are going to be back, it has already been announced. Other key people at both CBC and Rogers will be involved, and some other names from other news organizations will be part of the new organization. A few TSN behind-the-camera folks have switched sides.

So there will be lots of new stuff, and some familiar, experienced faces as well, with an emphasis on creating a new storytelling effort for hockey in Canada that goes beyond trade rumours and panel discussions.

We'll see how it goes. Those of us involved in the project know there will be early criticism next fall no matter what - heck, it's already started before a single light has been turned on - and that's part of how things work. Those with a stake in this will wax poetically about how good things used to be while pretending to be neutral.

Rogers will do some things very well right away, and some things will take time, just as TSN did some things very well, and wasn't as strong in other areas. Sports broadcasting can't be about perfection because perfection lies in the eye of the beholder.